FEATURE LIST
years, like Lloyd Newson, Yolande Snaith and Laurie Booth. They find it a struggle unless they get European support.
Dance events will be happening thoughout the year at the Third E ye. particularly in the New Moves season Jan—March and Mayfest.
I Richard Mantle, director oi the Scottish Opera.
I would say that we have approached the 1990 season with a bit more ambition than usual. The programme includes Force of Destiny, 3 major work by Verdi on the scale of Aida. The same goes for later in the year when we stage The Trojans by Berlioz, again a mighty work which actually received its first British performance in Glasgow in 1939. The year’s going to bring other big rep productions; Richard Strauss’ Salome, based on the Oscar Wilde play and a Mozart piece, Cosi fan tutti with a major German theatre director. In January the first new production for 1990 is Bartok‘s Bluebeard’s Castle, 3 short but very powerful piece. We’re partnering it with Stravinsky’s Oedipus Rex which we did last year— I hope inventive planning and a fairly unusual double bill. Toward the end of the year we will be performing a world premiere. With the help of the the Festival’s Unit we have commisioned a new opera fr0m Judith Weir to be pcrformedinOctober. It] was to put any damper on 1990 it would be that we must be careful to ensure that we don’t just become a shop window for visitingOrganisations. I hope we’re not going to overpopulate our theatres with too many performances. We may be in danger of askingtoo much of our resident population. But they’re going to have a marvellous Opportunity to see a wealth ofwork.
Scottish Opera productions can be seen at the Theatre Royal throughout the year
I Douglas Clelland, managing director, Glasgow's Glasgow. Glasgow’s Glasgow is an exhibition dealing with the history of the city, and a kind of evocation of people in the city. While it is in a sense about Glasgow itself, we are also showing what Glasgow has learned from the rest of the world, and what it has given internationally, so we are not parochial. We’ll also be dealing with immigration and emigration — when do Glaswegians become Glaswegians? Some of the details about emigration are rather absurd: it was, for instance, a Glaswegian who wrote the Australian national anthem, and Glaswegians who founded McGill and Princeton Universities in America. Glasgow’s Glasgow may bridge the gap between the visual and the performance arts, by bringing both together in the one place. We will have dramatic performances and videos as well as traditional museum-style exhibits. The exhibition is also about urban reclamation — it’s in a new venue, and one which will be used long after 1990.
Glasgow’s Glasgow (The Words and
the Stones), Midland Street arches (under Central Station), 7April- 5 November.
I Adele Patrick, a toundlng member oi Women In Protile, Women’s Festival. We set up in anticipation of the low profile for women‘s events in 1990 and began working in 1988. The main venues were already organising their programmes and were reluctant to ‘takc a risk’ and show
. our art. Luckily we now have a great
new space of our own at 5 Dalhousie LaneuOur events include exhibitions of contemporary art, edible art, a history of Women‘s Aid and photography, music and film festivals apd Womanhouse - four flats in Castlemilk converted to artspace for women. We’re completely different from the characteristically ‘Hit and Run‘ events of1990; we want everything to be ongoing. The publications we’ve developed, in literature and the visual arts, will remain as a resource for women in these areas. Our third journal is outsoon and will be controversial — we want to explore what concepts of 1990 are actually working and bring a political dimension into the arts sphere. As far as we can see 1990 would be insufferable without us!
Women 's Festival, various venues, September.
I Alastair McCallum, Cranhill Arts Centre, Glaswegians By Glaswegians. We'll be putting on a major core show and ten satellite exhibitions in outlying areas. We want to convert a city centre shop and get away from the antiseptic gallery atmosphere. Lots of 1990 events seem to be about consuming rather than participating. One of the events we will be putting on before October will be a project inviting everyone to bring in those embarrassing family pics they keep in the biscuit tin. People are scunnered with the usual postcard scenes of Glasgow that show little human presence; our work is an antidote to that. We’ve been examining the changing face of Glasgow, the first stage ofwhich has been to go into workspaces; factories, hospitals, laundries, offices and newspapers. Culture is not just celebration — it‘s also about understanding, analysis, discovery and recreation. I like the notion of ‘culture’ rather than ‘art’ which has elitist undertones. Ultimately it‘s important not to get the culture of
the city mixed up with what they‘re doing during the City ofCulture year.
Glaswegians By Glaswegians. citywide, October.
I Rosalind Paterson, unemployed. Along with Kenneth Brannagh. My Little Pony, and Harold from Neighbours, Glasgow is going to spend most of 1990 fending offthe inevitable backlash after ten months of ruthlessly tedious media attention, but what difference does it make anyway? 1990 is just a big PR exercise which I doubt will change anyone‘s life. Looking at the programme nothing strikes me as a City ofCulture scoop — just the usual fare with a Charles Rennie Mackintosh logo, and certainly I see nothing that‘s going to cause Glasgow to become a better place to live in. In fact you can‘t help wondering ifsuch huge sums ofcash being shifted in the direction of ‘Image Improving' isn‘t actually to the city‘s detriment.
I John Dunlop, Supervisor, Glasgow Underground System.
I think the City of Culture is an excellent idea; if the Garden Festival is anything to go by it will certainly attract a lot ofvisitors and anything that attracts more tourists has to be good for the city‘s economy. There’ll be no step-up in the underground service, as there was in the Garden Festival. I’ve stayed in Glasgow for twenty-five years and I think its best features are the beautiful parks and its museums and galleries. There’s so much to see, and the Burrell Gallery is far superior to the museums in London. I was down there a little while ago and, frankly, there‘s no comparison. One of Glasgow‘s biggest advantages is that admission to the galleries is free, I reckon that‘s a big tourist attraction. I‘m not sure if I‘ll go to any of the 1990 events yet. I used to go to the theatre a lot, but not so much lately. If any of the big London musicals comes up then I‘d certainly see it.
I Barry Wright, Regular Music. Europe is rapidly extending its artistic horizons to the point where it is willing to include all cultures, from all parts of the world. It is therefore fitting that Glasgow, as European City ofCulture, reflects these trends with a truly worldwide event. The festival. which we hope will be held
in Pollok Park, will be a multi-stage event, with a whole host of international musicians and musical styles. Since it is Glasgow‘s year, however, there will be a special emphasis upon Celtic music, with acts from Brittany and Ireland as well as the British Isles. This is the first festival of its kind in Scotland. and it should offer a unique insight into the music of the world.
World Music Festival. Pollok Park,
31 A rig—2 Sept.
I Susan Deigham, Streetbiz organiser.
Streetbiz is no newcomer to Glasgow, in fact we‘ve been organising outdoor events here for quite some time. Every year the programme has grown in scale and popularity. so this time we’ve decided to put on something a bit special: a street festival which reflects the European flavour of 1990. There will, of course be plenty that people will recognise from previous years; a carnival parade, buskers and street acts of various kinds. This time however, We‘re planning to introduce a number of continental acts. Street performance is hugely popular in Europe, and you can quite confidently expect the unexpected. We’re also laying on an open platform: a kind of ‘fringe’ street festival. Anyone who wants to can try their hand. All they have to do is step forward, andthe stage is theirs. . .
Streetbiz tak es to the city's streets in August.
I Jim Smith, new director of the Glasgow international Jazz Festival. The Glasgow International Jazz Festival is a very prestigious event in this country, and it is a good time fOr me to come back to the City. The potential interest in jazz has grown considerably in the past decade, and we will continue to try to reflect all aspects of the music, from major international performers to local musicians. The definition ofwhat constitutes jazz is a lot more pliable now, but my interest is in quality rather than quantity across that spectrum. Although we are an annual event, and will carry on regardless, 1990 is obviously an important focus for us, and the Festival is intended to be a major summer contribution to the Year of Culture. We have to play our part in bringing people into the city. Working in the South. I became aware just how much the perception of Glasgow has changed for the better, and 1990 is a crucial part of that, not just for jazz, but for the whole Glasgow strategy.
Glasgow International Jazz Festival, 29June—8July, 1990.
I Michael Boyd, Artistic Director, Tron Theatre.
We‘re kicking off at the end of April after a season of touring companies. We’re planning to convert our wardrobe into a small studio space for April and Mayfest and ifit really works it may be an ongoing thing. What I hope to start there is a dramatisation ofTed Hughes‘ Crow. Meanwhile in the main house we‘ll
8 The List 22 December 1989— 11 January 1990